What is it about the Opry?

[Dave Mudgett]

Ron - I wouldn't believe everything I hear. Connie's been on there recently. She's still a member:

http://www.opry.com/MeetTheOpry/Members.aspx?id=104

I gather she sometimes appears with husband Marty Stuart.

Take a look at the Opry schedule here:

http://www.opry.com/TicketsAndInformation/Calendar.aspx

This is just a concatenated list of what's scheduled for the next few months:

Craig Morgan, The Grascals, Jimmy Wayne, Riders In The Sky, Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson, Rhonda Vincent, Andy Griggs, Jimmy Dickens, Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Nashville Irish Stepdancers, Hal Ketchum, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press, Jeannie Seely, Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Del McCoury, Jimmy Dickens,Josh Gracin, Cherryholmes, Riders In The Sky, Jack Greene, Loretta Lynn, Marty Stuart, Steve Wariner, Lorrie Morgan, Jim Ed Brown, Mel McDaniel, Joe Nichols, Chuck Wicks, The Infamous Stringdusters, Gene Watson, Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson, BJ Thomas, Jennifer Hanson, The Steeldrivers, Restless Heart, George Hamilton IV, Jim Ed Brown, Charlie Daniels, Kellie Pickler, Neal McCoy, Phil Stacey, Jimmy C. Newman, Bill Anderson, Emerson Drive, Mark Wills, Del McCoury, Mark Wills, Del McCoury, Diamond Rio, The Grascals, Riders In The Sky, Jewel, Jason Aldean, John Anderson, The Steeldrivers, Diamond Rio, The Avett Brothers, Del McCoury, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Mark Lowry, Lee Greenwood, Suzy Bogguss, Del McCoury, Charlie Daniels, Del McCoury, Aaron Tippin, The Isaacs, The Grascals, Carrie Underwood, Oak Ridge Boys, Charley Pride, Charley Pride, Mel Tillis, Sunny Sweeney, Jimmy Fortune, Marty Stuart, TBA, Bill Monroe Bluegrass Celebration: The Grascals, James Monroe.

Yup, no REAL country music there at all. But how can that be? I don't see Kenny Chesney on there even once.

I think part of the issue traditional diehards notice is that the televised portion of the show is geared more to the younger TV advertising demographic. But I still think it's pretty hard to argue that there's no country music left on the Opry.

Sound issues are another story. But I expect getting uniformly good monitor levels for a lot of very diverse acts - essentially from acoustic bluegrass to what amounts to a modern rock band - is pretty tough. But on shows with a lot of very diverse acts, I think sometimes the monitors are kinda' rough. C'est la vie.

I agree with everything Bill Hatcher said. I'd definitely prefer to see things go back to much lower volumes. But I still think the Opry is worth seeing.

[Joe Miraglia]

This don't have anything to do with the Opry but it does about "out of tune". I've said for a long time that Kenny Chesney is the worst singer I've ever heard and I have never heard him sing live "on key". I don't know how he continues to get the reviews and awards he does. Guess it goes back to the Studio being able to cover up a lot.

I'm sorry but I'm going to add to the list( sadly they are no longer with us,and were great country stars) but, as far as Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb I think they where poor singers. They had the best musicians backing them,helping them out. Maybe thats why the band got to play so many breaks and solos. I think ET sang off key. Joe

[tomsteel]

I think the country music from the eighties and most of the nineties was really good.There were more band acts that were really great.It seems that the singers and producers///want all the glory and money for themselves.The guys backing them it seems are treated like throwaways.Most of the new stuff on radio I despise.The Opry imho has turned its nose at anyone over 30yrs old,,,,,the grey hairs etc.Country music as it was is pretty much dead in Nash.It is still alive in Texas and up northwest.I,ll stop for now..I,m getting p***ed off.Thomas Malugin

[Ron !]

The guys backing them it seems are treated like throwaways.

Three pages before someone said it.But....it's the nail right on the head.
Without musicians they really would sound like crap.Far worse then they do right now.Can you imagine that?
Thank God for musicians.

Ron

[Ron Patrick]

Thanks Dave for the Opry information Ron

[chris ivey]

dave...gee i must have come in late or something and missed a joke....you don't get anymore country than gene watson, not to mention others on the list. gene i'm sure would do some a$$ whuppin at that comment. i guess it was a joke!

[Skeeter Stultz]

DAVE

WHAT'S JEWEL DOING ON THAT LIST?

[Barry Scott]

Chis Ivey...I must have missed it too. Did someone make a bad comment about Gene Watson??? He was GREAT when I heard him last year at the Opry. What a singer!!!!

[Joe Drivdahl]

Dave
I believe you are correct about the televised portion of the show being the youger acts. I wonder if Suzy Boggus will be on the televised portion? Gene Watson probably will, and he'll probably have TW playing too!

Joe

[Dave Mudgett]

Skeeter - Why does the fact that Jewel appears once on the GOO bother you so much? What has she done that is so sacriligeous to merit this kind of outrage? If you go to her website, you'll hear a bunch of mixed alt or modern country songs filled with fiddle and steel guitar. It's as country as a lot of other stuff I'm hearing these days - perhaps more so. I think it sounds pretty good, actually. Listen - you just might not hate it. Or maybe you will. But it's no sacrilege, IMO.

Seriously. What you guys are up in arms about is a few artists that don't fit your conception of REAL country music. But how do you think the country music fans who grew up on George Hay, the Possum Hunters, Uncle Dave Macon, and DeFord Bailey in the 30s and 40s felt about all them electric instruments (including amplified steel guitar) and drums.

Life is not static. But that list of upcoming performers has tons and tons of classic country stars on it - those that we still have left to enjoy. This is not country radio - it's the Opry. They have a few of the modern country stars - and a lot of the "regulars".

We can't have ET, Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Lester Flatt, Bill Monroe, Faron Young, Marty Robbins, or any of the great but departed country stars back - much as I wish we could. They're gone. I really am sorry too, but that's the way it is.

I was at Marty Robbins' last Opry show in the early 80s - I think it was 1982. He refused to get off the stage, and just kept on going till very late at night. It was magic. Sorry man - I wish we could go back. But there's no way to do it.

Chris I., Barry - I think you missed my joke.

Yup, no REAL country music there at all.

I think I better pay attention to Johnny Carson more and make sure I diagram my jokes better. That was a joking retort that there IS in fact plenty of REAL country music on the Opry, even now. Just look at that list.

Your witness, Mr. Prosecutor.

[David L. Donald]

Joe, I don't think Allison Krause HAS compromised her music.
She has just done OTHER music ALSO.

I am sure we ALL have said things
and 10 years later thought; WHY did I ever say that.

If saying that back in the day, means NEVER doing anything
but purist bluegrass, well that's not a valid promise.
It's just saying she will always play proper bluegrass.
I don't doubt she will.

It never said she would never play OTHER music.
Just not do crap music, which means things she doesn't like.
She has grown as an artist.
I prefer she has the space to create her dreams

You yourself moved on from bluegrass,
why not her too, one past interview aside.

That single is an Everly Brothers tune.
In any collaboration you take from both sides.
This was a nice recall from the past.

But there is one really nice early style gospel
like Carter family with zither and frailing banjo.
A bit of gypsey, a little rock with great fiddle,
and 2-3 really classic country tunes done RIGHT.
Greg does KILLER steel work. It CARRYS the tunes.
and also is spot on when doubled with the guitar
in the classic style.
Not to say that their vocal work doesn't.
It's just super steel work front and center.

Album worth having JUST for those tunes.

I can recommend the album as a fine work
for both of them. Off the beaten path for both,
but T-Bone Burnett does fine production work,
and Marc Ribot is a super versatile guitarist.

It is in my truck, and both myself and Chacha
like it a lot. She learned her love of country
in the church up north directly from gospel music.
She loves the Issacs a lot too.

As I see it, Allison has not compromised anything,
just expanded for an album.
She is proving to be too big a talent for only one genre.
Why arbitrarily limit her.

[Joe Drivdahl]

David
I guess it depends on what she really meant by not compromising her music. What I took it to mean was that she wouldn't go commercial; that'd she'd stay bluegrass regardless how non-mainstream she might become. This isn't the first thing she's done that to me has IMO violated her vow. All those slow, draggy songs she did a while back in her nightgown seemed pretty commercial-ish to me.

I respect Alison and what ever music she chooses to do. I thought it was cool when she re-did the old Bad Company song, "Oh Atlanta", but she bent the song to fit her style.

She is too big a talent to stay in one genre, I can agree with that, I'm just saying that I didn't think she'd ever go commercial and she has. But they all do eventually it seems. So did Reba, Leanne Womack, Patty Loveless, etc., but not Rhonda Vincent. Not yet!

Joe

[Charles Davidson]

Would like to respond to Joe Miraglia post,Joe you are right ET and Mr.Acuff did NOT have the beautiful almost perfect voice say like maybe Marty Robbins or Jim Reeves had,BUT,AND IT'S A BIG,BIG,BUT.You could add Hank Sr,Tex Ritter,Cash,Stonewall,Bill Anderson,Grand Pa Jones,Stringbean,Miss Minnie,Uncle Dave,etc,BUT they had something NONE of this new bunch has,it's called STYLE,STYLE,STYLE,EVEN the ones that did have good singing voices like Hank Snow,Faron,Webb,Ferlin,Patsy,Dolly,Kitty,Ray Price,Eddy Arnold,the list could go on and on,They ALL had something in common,their OWN STYLE,You did'nt have to guess who they were,as soon as they sang one note[no matter if you liked them or not]you KNEW who it was,you did'nt have to guess.The same for the pickers,When Chet,Little Roy,Don Helms,Merle Travis,you knew who it was,they had their own STYLE.Even on CD'S today you may hear a fantatic HOT E9th solo,and you wonder,was that Buddy,Paul,Tommy,or some new hot player,In days gone by,if it was a singer or picker you knew immediately who it was.NO MORE,DYKBC.

[Joe Drivdahl]

Charles
I think the same can be said about a lot of things. I used to follow boxing back in the 70's. Oh I knew all the contenders, Ali, Norton, George Forman, Smokin' Joe. They all had personalities or something that made me care about boxing. Now, I don't know one from another and no longer follow boxing. Has it really changed or have I changed?

Cars had personality. You could tell from the grill, or the back end, the make, model, and year. Now, who knows? They're all shaped like eggs.

Think of all the characters we had on TV: Red Skelton, Lucy, Jackie Gleason. Think of the dancers: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, all the variety shows we had. All the great non-country singers, Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, etc., Literature and Poetry: Kerouac, Ginsburg, Hemmingway. Who writes poetry anymore? Who reads poetry anymore? There seems to be universal dumbing down of and a reduction in the talent required to be a sucessful in these endeavors these days. I think we've entered another Dark Age.

Joe

[David L. Donald]

Most of the album is anything BUT commercial.
And Everly brothers tunes from that time are
anything but commercial in todays market.

But with Robert Plant's name and a good song,
which it is, it is bound to have more commercial potential
than if most anyone else did the same song.

The album itself is a stab at the dumbing down of music.
They picked songs, and not for their cross-over potential,
but because they are good songs.

I have NO DOUBT they could play 2-3 songs from the album
live at the Opry and it would go over very well.

Especially if Robert Plant was introduced AFTER
they played.
Allison Krauss and Friends. No preconceived bias.
Just listen and enjoy and THEN get a serious shock.

Heck the guys in his 60's now,
not exactly a screaming rock star anymore.
Even if they DID do a reunion concert a while back.

He STILL loves to sing, and why not.

[Tracy Sheehan]

I haven't heard her for some time but i did like the variety she did a few years back.Goes to show we can always learn something.At least i can and did.She was on PBS and i recorded it.She played Man of Constant Sorrow on her fiddle which Ricky Schaggs said was the blue grass song of that year.
What got my attention was she did an excllent job and the song was in the key of F.I am sure there have been but i had never heard puritan blue grass played on a fiddle in the key of F so i re ran her part a few times to learn how she was doing it.I never was ont to copy any ones licks but i did copy that.
Blue grass on a fiddle is not easy as most think it is.Blue grass fiddle is in the phrasing,playing a little behind the beat at times and repeating 1/8th of a note at times also.OR is thar 1/4 note.? I forget.
I never was hung up on any one style of music.I like any type if it is played well.But i really can't understand how some of the stuff coming out these days can be called music IMHO.Tracy

[Joe Drivdahl]

After reading through all the posts, I think what we're dealing with here is evolution, and I mean that in the Darwinian sense. Someone said, paraphrased: "What do you think the old folks thought when they electrified the steel?" True enough. What did they think about drums on the Opry?

Everything is in a constant state of change. I am not very fond of some of the more "hokier" stuff from the 40s and 50s. You now, "Bimbo", "Little Lambs Eat Ivy", and whatnot. To me, music was best in the 60s and 70s, and country started going downhill in the 80s; rock in the late 70s with the advent of disco. It had been evolving all along; I just didn't notice it, until the change became big enough to be evident.

According to Darwin, living beings evolve to meet the demands of their surroundings. Those beings that can't evolve will perish. Music is changing to meet the demand of the public. Musicians, who can't or won't evolve, won't be in the mainstream long. They'll wind up playing the smaller venues. An example is Billy Walker playing the Mid West Country Show not long ago. (He sounded good too by the way).

I don't much like the whole idea of having to evolve. I guess that’s why I have chosen not to evolve but instead to "Rage against the dying of the light" and play my "really" small venues and face my eventual extinction courageously.

Joe

[Ray Montee]

Back in the 1950's, I used to just be turning into the entrance to my regular Saturday night gig at the Division Street Corral here in Portland when the GRAND OLE OPRY was starting its broadcast. No BIGGER sound (not louder!) could be heard in this land than that of Tommy Jackson's fiddle or Grady Martin, Hank Garland or Billy Robinson kicking off the first tune of the Prince Albert WSM-Radio Show.
The sounds were FULL and balanced! Everyone in the group could be heard clearly. The TONE that was given to the guitars has yet to be matched by any of these modern day electronic wizards.
It was the sounds of Roy Wiggins on Eddy Arnold's olde RCA Record and the guys on the OPRY that turned me on to country music......... What's happened at the OPRY today is definitely 'change' but seems to appeal more to a society that quite honestly has little or no music appreciation.
I chanced to catch a 'local' band broadcast last night. Some olde bald headed guy was attempting to gyrate around the stage with his walker, while ripping the strings off his loud, blaring g'tar and the crowd couldn't seem to take their eyes off of his futile attempt at playing the g'tar. It seems more appreciation is given these days to fakery than substance.

[Ben Jones]

I have tried to watch the show a couple times.
Pardon my rather blunt critique but....BORING!

[Theresa Galbraith]

I think Marty Robbins was the first to bring horns on the Opry stage.

I for one, am happy to see diversity at the Opry & in all genres of music.
Jewel has a great voice and she can sing country!

[Joe Drivdahl]

Ray Montee said:

It seems more appreciation is given these days to fakery than substance.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Ray. The Guitar Hero game is all the rage with the college kids. I've seen that. It requires a good deal of effort to master it, but like my son says, "why not just learn to play the guitar?"

We have entered a new dark age as far as Art / Music appreciation go I fear. Students don't want to study anything that is outside their rhelm of study. When I was in college, things were more liberal I guess. I took Art and Music classes not because I had to for my degree, but because I wanted to. This generation doesn't think that way. The attitude of many (not all) is more like, "just tell me how I can get through this class, learn as little as possible along the way, with little or no effort on my part."

Joe

[Ben Jones]

well, we could cancel the high school football teams new uniforms and instead use that money to bring music education back into our public schools. Nah, thats crazy talk.....

[Dennis Graves]

I don't like diversity on the GOO.

Guess I'm going to show my ignorance here, but I never heard of Jewel till it was mentioned here. And this Robert Plant or whatever his name is, I never heard of him until I saw him on TV with Alison Krause.

No, I haven't been under a rock. I've played bluegrass and "country" music all of my life and I never once steered away from those. I'm probably the only person in the world like that, but that was my choice.

By the way, I am 59 years old. I don't follow crowds or trends. I think with my own head.

[Theresa Galbraith]

The Opry has always had diversity!:)

[Craig A Davidson]

Ben you have a great point. I agree totally. Bobbe, you might cast a big shadow behind you but as far as the gals I have seen work for you, I sure wouldn't try to guess the time of day by theirs. As far as the topic goes, there can be a lot of factors for the out of tune music. They might not be able to hear. One of the musicians might be off somewhere. Fear of the Opry stage might be part of it. It doesn't matter how many times you do things, sometimes the gig just doesn't go like you intend. Years ago I heard Loretta, Conway, Porter, Little Jimmy, George the 4th, Roy Acuff, Grandpa Jones, Jumping Bill,Whisper, and Ernest Tubb hit sour notes. Don't get me wrong cause I loved or still do love all those artists. But it does happen.